Labour’s John McDonnell MP and Unite’s Len McCluskey led the Our NHS march

This was always going to be great! I knew that when we boarded the train at Preston Park to find standing room only as it was jam-packed with those from Brighton going up for the march.

It was even better when we stopped at Gatwick and were joined by air passengers transiting to London who were absolutely bewildered by a packed trainload of noisy and enthused left-wingers practising protest songs with the assistance of a loud hailer… It was amazing.

Fishersgate Labour supporters went to tell May to stop Tory attacks on our NHS and schools

After alighting at St Pancras it was again jam-packed all around us with people from all over the country making their way to the assembly point in Tavistock Square. The noise, the banners, the immense crowds but, most importantly, the camaraderie and common cause of all there made the strength of unity all-encompassing.

John McDonnell MP mixing freely with the crowd before the march left Tavistock Square

Such a sight, the march commenced at 1pm, the numbers were so immense we did not begin to move for about a hour! As we turned into the long straight approach towards Trafalgar Square all that could be seen was the marchers stretching from one end to the other, the front of the march being well on the way to Parliament Square and out of sight.

Pavilion Labour members Derek & Phil, part of Withdean Branch’s contingent on the march

Massive banner of SABS – Sussex and Brighton Students – Save The NHS Group

If May, Hunt and the rest of the Conservative Party, their supporters and donors, did not hear it then perhaps a visit to their private Harley Street clinics would be in order to have their hearing checked!

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP and all the other speakers at the rally in Parliament Square certainly had no doubt. Their speeches encompassed the current deliberate destruction of the NHS by the Tories, using open privatisation, underfunding, neglect and, as always, the blinkered vision which defines the Conservative obsession with profit, the free market and the Tory abhorrence of all things public.

The Labour Party founded the NHS, and we will not allow the callous, uncaring, false hope, elitist, Establishment-supporting Conservative Party to fail it, nor destroy it. The hundreds of thousands on the march yesterday are also the voice of countless millions of others who were there in spirit.

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ABOUT PAVILION LABOUR

The Labour Party in Brighton Pavilion constituency covers the wards of Patcham, Withdean, Hollingdean & Stanmer, Preston Park, Hanover & Elm Grove, St Peter's & North Laine and Regency.
We have active branches in each ward, which meet regularly to discuss, debate and campaign on local and national issues.
Brighton has a long tradition of radical politics, including some of the very first organised co-operatives and communal health care in Britain. This heritage informs our socialism today.